Plate bending machine



Oct 12, 1937. w. F. HUCK PLATE BENDING MACHINE Filed March 27, 1954 5Sheets-Sheet 1 -F'IG.I.

INVENTOR. 35 240 I Ar'rY.

Oct. 12, 1937. w. F. HUCK PLATE BENDING MACHINE Filed March 27, 1934 5Sheets--5heet '2 -FIG.3.-

m R j m I- 3 H i E :1. Q V n. T f N 00 l 6 6 vl w w 6 l 6 5 I M w m w JUH wm H H 5 m PLATE BENDING MACHINE Filed March27, 1934 Sheets-Sheet 5INVE NTO R Patented Oct. 12, 1937 PATENT OFFICE PLATE BENDING MACHINE"William F. Huck, Richmond Hill, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments,to R. Hoe & 00., Inc., NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of' New YorkApplication March 27,

18 Claims.

This invention relates toplate bending machines havingfor its-object theprovision of certain desired improvements in mechanism of the kindindicated which will insure a more convenient, expeditious and eflicientbending of printing plates.

Another object'is to provide mechanism of the kind indicated. having anovel roller arrangement for effecting the bending of printing plates,

It is also an object of the invention to provide a plate bending machineof generally improved construction, whereby the device will be simple,durable and inexpensive in construction, as well as convenient,practical, serviceable and efficient in its use. With the foregoing andother objects in View, which will appear. as the description proceeds,the invention resides in the combination and arrangement ofparts, and inthe details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it beingunderstood. that various changes in the precise embodiment of. theinvention. herein disclosed may be madewithin the scope of what isclaimed without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated intheaccompanying drawings,'where- Figure 1 is an end elevational view ofan embodiment of the invention;

H Figure 21is-a top. plan view, as seen in the direction of the arrow 2of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view, partly inelevation, of details, partly shown in Figure l, for adjusting thepressure rollers;

' Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 of other detailsassociated withthe pressure roller adjusting means;

Figure;5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View, partly in elevation,of certain details of gearing and associated parts shown at the foot ofFigure 1; and

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view, illustrating the employment of a guardstrip, forming one of the features of the present invention.

With more particular reference to the drawings, ll designates generallya frame preferably formed of. angle or channel iron construction andcomprising a base member or platform l2, to which is suitably secured apedestal or frame 13, having alaterally projecting hollow bracket l4 orcasing (Figures 1 and 4) supported in an approximately central positionthereon, and a second hollow bracket or casing l5 secured.

1934, Serial No.v 717,553.

thereto at the top frame H.

Suitably journaled in and between the platform [2, and the centrallypositioned casing l4, are a pair of shafts l6l6 and a third shaft H, thepair of shafts l6l6' being connected at their lower ends by couplings,indicated generally at I8- -l9, to extensions 20 of the said pair ofshafts l6-I6', while the shaft l T is connected by a universal orflexible coupling 2| to an extension shaft 22. The extension shafts 20are journaled in bearings 2324, which are secured in position in theplatform by bearing retainers 2526 respectively, and have, gears 21 21integrally formed therewith.

The gears 21-21 mesh with a gear 28, keyed to the extension 22 of. theshaft H; the said extension 22 being supported in bearings 293|,arranged in the platform I2, and secured by retainers 32-33respectively. The gear 28 in turn meshes with a gear 34, integrallyformed with a driven shaft 35, journaled in bearings 36--31 secured inthe platform l2 and fastened therein by retainers 3839'. The drivenshaft is connected by a couplingi4ll toa driving means or gearreduction. assembly 4| operated by a motor 4|, which serves as a primemover or source of mechanical energy for the machine. The shafts Iii-l6are also connected by couplings l8'-l9 to extension shafts. 42 (only oneof which is shown), rotatably supported in bearingsv 42, which are heldin place by cap members 60-60' in the casings I4 and 15 respectively.The extension shafts 42 are formed integrally with pressure rolle'rshereinafter mentioned. v

The shaft I1 is connected by a universal or flexible coupling 43 to thereduced lower end of a shaft 44', rotatably supported in a bearing 45,suitably mounted in a block member 46, and held or upper portion of thesaid in positionby a cap.46, the said shaft 44 being secured to acylinder or roller hereinafter'mentioned. The block 46 is slidablymounted on 'a pair of rods 41, securedin the casing 14, and bodilymovable by instrumentalities set forth below. Each ,of the rods 41 isencircled by a spring 48, confined between a wall of the casing l4, andan adjacent face of the block 46. The said block 46 has secured theretoa threaded shaft 49, journaled in a plate or bracket 50 suitably securedto the casing 14. I Upon the shaft 49 thereis in turn mounted a threadedworm wheel 5| engaged by a Worm 52, keyed to a lower end of a manuallyoperable shaft 53, retained in operative vertical position by collars5455, fastened thereon, and juxtaposed against adjacent surfaces of thecasings l4 and I5 respectively. The journal plate or bracket 58 isprovided with a ball bearing 50', which serves as a thrust member forthe hub of the worm wheel 5|.

The shaft 44, which is fastened to or formed integrally with a pressurecylinder or roller 56 coactable with a pair of pressure rollers 51-58,at its upper end protrudes into the casing 5, and is mounted in abearing 59 arranged in a block member 6|, slidably mounted on a pair ofrods 6263, encircled by springs 64--65 respectively,

Said block 6| has secured theretoa threaded shaft 66 and is supported ina manner similar to the shaft 49. The said shaft 66 is in turn supportedby a journal plate or bracket 61, secured to the housing 5; the saidbracket being provided with a ball bearing 61', which serves as a thrustmember for the hub of the. worm wheel 68 which is in turn threadedlymounted on the shaft 66.

It will be seen that when the shaft 53 which has an operating wheel 1|secured to its upper reduced end is turned, both of, the worms 52 and 66will be rotated, thereby turning the worm wheels 5| and 68 engagedtherewith, and conse quently causing the shafts 49 and 66 to move insuch a manner as to impel the sliding blocks 46 and 6| to regulate thespacing distance between the aforesaid roller 56 and the coactingrollers 51-58. The springs 48, 64 and 65, referred to above, maintain afollow-up or biasing pressure on the adjacent blocks 46, 6| andconsequently, the cylinder 56 mounted therein.

As best shown in Figure 2, and as forming an important feature of thepresent invention; means are provided for interposing between the pairof rollers 5158 and the cylinder 56, a sheet of flexible material ormetal 12, preferably softer than the metal or alloy of which theprinting plates to be bent or the pressure rollers 56, 51 and 58 arecomposed. The said means comprises two pairs of arms, each pairconsisting of an upper arm 13 and a lower arm 14, secured in spacedrelation and fastened to a shaft 15, rotatably mounted in bearingbrackets 16 in turn fastened to the pedestal I3. Springs 11, arranged onthe shaft .15, and having their ends engaged with adjacent portions ofthe arms 13, 14 and the pedestal 3, serve to maintain the said arms inthe normal position, best shown in Figure 2.

With a view to determining the magnitude of the translational movementof the pressure cylinder 56 towards and away from the pressure rollers51, 58, a gauge or other suitableindicating means indicated generally at18 and having an operating connection to the block 6| is provided. Asbest shown in Figures 1 and 3, a shaft or rod 19 is fastened at one endto the block 6| and is connected by any suitable means to mechanismforming a part of the gauge or indicating means 18 mentioned above, sothat when the roller 56 is bodily shifted with the blocks 46 and 6|through the instrumentalities referred to hereinbefore, the extent ofthe shifting movement may be denoted in an amplified manner, forexample, in one .001 on the scale of the said gauge. Openings or slotsl4, l5 in the casings l4, l5 provide a clearance space for the rollershaft 44 so that the latter may be. bodily shifted with its attachedroller 56 within the limits of the said slots.

In order to prevent any tendency towards misalignment of the pressurerollers 51, 58 which are adapted to compensate for components of forcedirected in planes bothrnormal and angular to same during the process ofbending a printing plate P when the cylinder 56 is bodily thrust againstthe said plate and the flexible sheet 12 abutting the pressure rollers,a plurality of thrust rolls or wheels directly engaged with the.pressure rollers are provided; viz., 8|, 82, 83 which serve tocompensate and correct the natural tendency of the rollers 51, 58 toyield during the process of bending the plate. The thrust rolls 8|, 82,83 are rotatably mounted in yokes or U-shaped members 8|, 82 and 83'respectively, rigidly secured in any suitable manner to adjacentportions of the fixed frame.

The operation of the device may now be summarized as follows:

Assuming the pressure cylinder 56 has been preadjusted to a positioneffective for obtaining the desired curvature in a printing plate whenoper ated on by the device and that the motor 4| is energized and thecoacting gears 21, 28 and 34 and their respective shafts l6, l1 and 35are rotating and consequently, that the cylinder 56 and pressure rollers51 and 58 are likewise rotating and that the strip of metal 12 isinterposed between the said rollers, a printing plate P may now be slidfrom a platform 84 secured to the casing l4 and then inserted betweenthe said metal sheet 12 and the roller 56 in such wise that the face ofthe said plate will be impinged against the flexible sheet, the softermetal of the said sheet preventing injury to or defacement of thecharacters on the face of the printing plate. During the process ofbending, the springs 11 will yield sufiiciently to permit the sheet 12to move with the printing plate in the passage of the latter between therollers, after which the sheet 12 will be automatically returned to thenormal position shown in Figure 2 by the said springs. The degree ofcurvature imparted to the printing plate will, of course, be governed bythe extent of translational movement of the cylinder 56 transversely tothe axes of the rollers 51, 58. It will be obvious from the foregoingdescription, and as clearly indicated in Figure 6, that any degree ofcurvature may be imparted to a printing plate within the limits of thedimensions and disposition of the three. rollers.

It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in otherspecific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributesthereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment beconsidered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive,reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoingdescription to indicate the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described comprising a frame, aplurality of rollers rotatably supported by said frame, one of saidrollers being movable relatively to and away from the others of saidrollers while maintaining a substantially equal spaced relation between,it and each 'of the other rollers, a sheet of backing material movablymounted on and interposed between said adjustable roller and the otherrollers, means for normally maintaining said sheet material in operativeposition to engage a printing plate when interposed in between the saidrollers, and power means for rotating all of the said rollers in orderto subject a printing plate to pressure by the same.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a frame, aplurality of rollers supported substantially in vertical parallelismupon the frame, means for bodily moving one of the rollers relatively toa pair of the others of said rollers while maintaining a substantiallyequal spaced relation between it and the said pair of rollers, a sheetof backing material movably connected to said frame and interposablebetween the said last mentioned rollers, resilient means for normallymaintaining the sheet of material inoperative relation to the rollersand a prime mover for actuating the rollers to operatively engage andbend a printing plate.

In a'device of the character described, the combination of 'a frame, aplurality of rollers supported upon the said frame, said rollers havingtheir axes, arranged substantially in parallelism, manually'operablemeans for bodily moving one of said rollers relatively to a pair of theother rollers, sheet material interposed between said last mentionedthree rollers, rockingly mounted means for supporting and moving saidsheet material between the said'rollers; and other means including aprime mover for simultaneously rotating all of said rollers tooperatively engage a printing plate located betweenthe sheet materialand a roller on one side and a pair of rollers on the other side. i i v4. In a deviceof the character described comprising a plurality of;rollers arranged in vertical parallelism, a manually operable means formoving one of said rollers bodily relatively to a pair of the other ofsaid'rollers, gear means operatively connectingall of said rollerstogether for rotation in unison, sheet material arranged between saidlast mentioned three rollers, power operated means connected to the gearmeans for actuating the same, andagauge for indicating the extent ofbodily movement of one of said rollers rela tivelyto'the said pair ofrollers, said gauge being connected to and actuated by the firstmentioned roller.

5. In a device of the character described, the

combination of a frame, a plurality of rollers and a cylinder arrangedin parallelism on said frame, sheet material arranged between a pair ofrollers and the cylinder, resilient means for normally 'maintaining thesheet material in'a position effective for being conveyed between therollers, manually operable means connected to the cylinder at the upperand lower ends thereof for bodily moving the same, and spring means formaintaining a biasing pressure on the cylinder.

6. In a device of the character described for" acter described, thecombination of a frame, a

plurality of rollersarranged in vertical parallelism and rotatablysecured on said frame, one of said rollers being bodily movablerelatively to a pair of the others of said rollers, sheet materialoperably mounted'on said frame and normally positioned between the pairof rollers and the other roller, means for moving the one of saidrollers relatively to the pair of rollers while maintaining an equalspaced relation between it and the said pair, and power means forrotating all of said rollers simultaneously, whereby when a pr'intingplate is interposed between said material and said pair of rollers, thesaid printing plate may be bent when said power means are actuated. V ri 8. In a plate bending mechanism of the character described, thecombination of a pair of rollers,'a third roller movable relatively tothe pairof rollers, flexible material interposable between the pair ofrollers and the third roller, means secured to said flexible materialfor normally maintaining the same in position to be carried between thethird roller and the pair of rollers, and manually operable means forbodily moving the third roller relatively to the pair of rollers whilemaintainingan equal spaced relation between it and the said pair whilesaid rollers are rotating. 7

9. In a deviceof the character described,,-the combination of a frame, aplatform and a plurality of brackets secured to the frame, a pairofshafts arrangedbetween said platform and one, of said brackets, aplurality of rollers arranged between the plurality of brackets andadapted to engage a printing plate to bend the same, driving means forthe rollers and shafts,

- said driving means being secured to the platform. 7

means operatively connecting the driving means, shafts and rollerstogether, and sheet material interposable between the printing plate andat least one of said rollers, said material serving as a guard toprevent injury to the printing plate and parts coacting therewith. V

10. In a device of the character described, the combination of ,a frame,a pair of rollers and a cylinder rotatably supported in parallelism bysaid frame, a protective sheet resiliently supportcylinder, manuallyoperable means for adjusting the cylinder with respect to the rollers,and gear means for driving the rollers and the cylinder at substantiallythe same peripheral speed.

11. In a device of the character described, the combination of a frame,a pair of rollers, a cylinder rotatably supported in said frame, a sheetof backing material reciprocatingly supported in the frame and biasedtoward starting position, said sheet being adapted to move between therollers and the cylinder, and manually operable means for adjustingthecylinder relatively to the rollers.

12. In a machine for bending printing plates, a frame, a pair of rollersrotatably supported in the frame with their axes substantially inparallelism, a cylinder rotatably supported to coact with both of saidrollers, a backing sheet interposed between the rollers and thecylinder, and means for moving the cylinder relatively towards or fromthe rollers while maintaining a substantially equal spaced relationbetween the cylinder and each roller, whereby a printing plate placedbetween the backing sheet and the cylinder and passed between thecylinder and the rollers, may be bent to a uniform curvature that isvariable by adjustment of the cylinder, and may be removed from themachine without moving the cylinder or either of the rollers bodily.

13. In a device of thecharacter described, the combination of a frame, apair of rollers and a cylinder coactingly associated and rotatablysupported with their axes in parallelism in said frame, a sheet ofbacking material hingedly connected to the frame and adapted to movebetween the rollers and the cylinder, resiliently biased bearing blocksfor said cylinder, and manually operable screw threaded means for movingsaid blocks and thereby said cylinder relatively to the rollers.

14. In a device of the character described, the combination of a frame,a motor operably secured to said frame, a pair of rollers, a cylinderrotatably supported in the frame in cooperative relation to the rollers,a sheet of backing material reciprocatingly supported in the frame andbiased toward starting position, said sheet being adapted to movebetween the rollers and the cylinder, 2. train of gears and shaftsoperably connecting the motor to the rollers and cylinder, one of saidshafts having a flexible coupling, and means for bodily moving thecylinder whereby it may be adjusted relatively to the rollers.

15. In a device of the character described for bending a printing plate,a frame, a plurality of rollers rotatably supported by the frame, one ofsaid rollers being relatively adjustable towards and away from theothers of said rollers, said rollers being adapted to accommodate aprinting plate therebetween, and a sheet of backing material permanentlyconnected to said device and interposable between a single one andothers of the rollers, the said sheet material being directly engageablewith a printing plate when arranged for bending between the sheetmaterial and the single roller.

16. In a device of the character described, the combination of a frame,a plurality of means rotatably mounted on said frame, said means beingadapted to engage and bend a printing plate, a sheet of materialreciprocatingly mounted on the frame and interposable between the saidmeans, said sheet material and 'means accommodating a printing platetherebetween, the face of said plate being juxtaposed against the sheetmaterial, and other means to mechanically connect all of said firstmentioned means for operation in unison.

17. In a device of the character described for bending a printing plate,a frame, a plurality of rollers rotatably supported by the frame, one ofsaid rollers being relatively adjustable towards and away from theothers of said rollers, said rollers being adapted to accommodate aprinting plate therebetween, a sheet of backing material permanentlyconnected to said device and interposable between a single one andothers of the rollers, the said sheet material being directly engageablewith a printing plate when arranged for bending between the sheetmaterial and the single roller, and indicating means for denoting thedegree of adjustment of one of said rollers.

18. In a device of the character described, the combination of a frame,a plurality of means rotatably mounted on said frame, said means beingadapted to engage and bend a printing plate, a sheet of materialreciprocatingly mounted on the frame and interposable between the saidmeans, the said sheet material and means accommodating a printing platetherebetween, the face of said plate being juxtaposed against the sheetmaterial, means to mechanically connect all of the plurality of meansfor operation in unison, means resiliently maintaining the sheetmaterial in operative position, and other means connected to one of thesaid plurality of means for indicating the movement of the said onemeans relatively to the others, whereby the degree of curvature impartedto a printing plate arranged between the rollers may be accuratelydetermined.

WILLIAM F. HUCK.

